Inside the Star

Toronto man accused of attacking raccoons to face lesser charge

A Toronto man accused after a raccoon family was attacked with a spade, could face a fine and up to 18 months in prison if convicted after the Crown decided to prosecute his charges as lighter offences.

A Toronto man accused after a raccoon family was attacked with a spade, could face a fine of up to $10,000 and a jail sentence of up to 18 months if convicted, after the Crown decided to prosecute his charges as lighter offences, court heard Wednesday.

Dong Nguyen, 53, did not appear at the court hearing, represented instead by his lawyer.

The case was put over until Aug. 18.

Nguyen was charged with cruelty to animals, which as a lighter, or summary offence carries a fine of $10,000 and a maximum of 18 months in prison, and possession of a dangerous weapon.

The Crown is pursuing the charges as summary offences, which are more minor than indictable offences. Convictions on indictable offences carry more serious penalties, prison terms and parole restrictions — in this case it would include a maximum sentence of up to 10 years for the weapon charge.

In the case of charges that can be prosecuted either way, the Crown decides which route to take.

Camille Labchuk, spokeswoman with Lawyers for Animal Welfare, said the Crown should have stuck with indictable charges.

"Animal cruelty cases should generally be pursued to the full extent of the law to provide that deterrent factor and protect human public safety . . . given the strong link between animal violence and human violence," she said.

But such charges rarely result in a conviction since the Crown must prove a high level of intent to harm animals, she added.

"That often works against animals when trying to prosecute those who have committed cruelty against (animals)," said Labchuk

A man told police on June 1 he saw a neighbour using a spade to attack a baby raccoon around 5 a.m.

“It sounded like a young child was being thrown around,” said Roddy Muir, who lives near Bloor St. W. and Lansdowne Ave. Muir warned his neighbour he would call police.

“While this man was hitting the raccoons with a shovel, the mother raccoon was taking the other injured babies away,” Const. Victor Kwong said at the time, citing witness reports. “As for the other baby raccoons, we don’t know (how they are) because the mother took them away.”

Raccoon Nation, a CBC documentary aired in February, said raccoon populations have grown twentyfold in North American cities over the last 70 years.